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Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed recently joined Edgerrin James, his former Miami Hurricanes teammate, on the Create The Life podcast to discuss his short-lived association with Bethune-Cookman University and his views on HBCU football. Since the negotiations between Reed and Bethune-Cookman soured in 2023, the former Ravens safety has been forthcoming about his experience and potential coaching career.
Reed began the discussion midway into the podcast by clarifying his position with Bethune-Cookman, stating unequivocally that he was never officially the head coach.
“I was to be the coach — I was never the coach. I never signed a contract. I never got fired like everybody said,” he asserted. This clarification comes after widespread reports suggesting his abrupt departure from the institution.
Despite the negotiations to bring Reed on board as head coach following the dismissal of Terry Sims after two consecutive 2-9 seasons, things did not proceed as planned. Reed shared that he felt it was time for him to take on a coaching role, but admitted, “God had other plans for me, bro.”
The discussion also revisited a controversial video Reed posted, which sent ripples through the HBCU community. In the video, Reed criticized the state of the Bethune-Cookman campus. This incident, followed by an emotional and expletive-laden response from Reed, led to the university deciding against proceeding with their contract negotiations.
Bethune-Cookman, in their official statement, emphasized their commitment to principles of integrity, accountability, and mutual respect, indicating that these values guided their decision to part ways with Reed.
“While we appreciated the initial interest in our football program displayed by Mr. Reed during the course of recent weeks, we are also mindful of the qualities and attributes that must be exhibited by our institutional personnel during what has been uniquely challenging times for our campus as we recover from the impact of two hurricanes during this past fall semester,” the statement read.
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Reed and James discussed a video they created on campus, which was posted to James's podcast YouTube channel featuring Reed giving him a tour. Reed strongly implied that the administration at Bethune-Cookman was not particularly pleased with it.
“What we had did in the cafeteria with the kids you think bro. All we did was [we drove] over there. It was positive, but bro, we spread everything was positive. Only thing that deep bro only thing these folk and I'm gonna say some people names and everything But I ain't taking no shots. Only thing they said was bad…was the music right?”
Reed then spoke at length about the nature of HBCU football and how he would've embraced his program being a “farming” system for Power Five schools.
” I was at BCU and I understood it's a farm. Everything f rom high school up is a farm bro. In a farm, we've been in the farm, you know I'm saying…And that's a recruiting tool. You got to know you're going to lose kids….every coach, you're going to lose kids. You're going to lose kids. They're going to transfer. They ain't gonna play. That's part of it. It can't affect [how you] develop them, developing those kids and cheating those kids. I told those kids. If somebody comes to get you to run Power 5, man, go. I want you to go. I've been through this ****.”
Following Reed's departure, Bethune-Cookman appointed Raymond Woodie Jr. as the new head coach. Woodie has already made headlines by recruiting high-profile athletes, including the sons of music legends Rick Ross and Big Boi.
The Wildcats kick off their season with a game against the University of South Florida on Saturday, August 31st at 7 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
